Illuminated sign.



PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

D. S. LAMB.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

APILIUATION FILED $221 .14 1904.

INVENTOR 06M 6 56W Altorneyg PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL S. LAMB, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1905.

Application filed September 14, 1904. Serial No. 224,401.

To a-ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL S. LAMB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Illuminated Signs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to signs illuminated by means of electric or other lamps and having a transparent sign board or plate through which a light shines to define the sign.

It is a defect in some of the present illuminated signs in which the lights are inside that they show the position of the lamps, being brighter directly around or near the lamps, with the result that some of the letters are bright and others are dim or there is at least a variance in the degree of brightness, which produces a blurred or disagreeable effect.

The object of the present invention is to remedy this defect.

A further object is to provide a transparent I sign which will show plainly in the day-time without the interior lights.

The invention embodies the idea of the use of a translucent plate located behind the transparent board. This plate is lighted as by lamps located above the same, and by the reflected light of the plate the transparency is illuminated and the letters of the sign defined.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view thereof. Fig. 2 is a cross-section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the translucent plate and the clips which support the same removed from the casing. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the manner of supporting the lamps in the casing.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the sign box or casing is indicated at 6, having at one end a slide 7 permitting access to the interior. The box is preferably formed of sheet metal and may be made of any desired shape or style. It is shown provided with hangers 8, whereby it may be suspended, and is arranged to display a sign on opposite sides.

The sign-plates are indicated at 9. These are made of glass and the letters are transparent, the plates being otherwise blocked up around the letters by paint or the like. WVithin and at the middle of the box, standing parallel to the sign-plates, is a translucent plate 10, preferably of opalized or ground glass. This plate is supported in position by clips 11 and may be slid in or out through the door 7 if and when desired. It is lighted from above by means of a series of lamps l2, preferably incandescent electric lamps, which are arranged along a strip 13, supported at the ends upon bars 14, extending across in the box. The top of the box has a raised or upper compartment (indicated at 15) in which the lamps are located, so as to bring them above the translucent plate and out of range of the sign-platesthat is, so that their light will not shine directly on the sign-plates, but only on the translucent plate referred to. The translucent plate is illuminated by the lamps referred to, and its light shines or shows through the transparent portions of the signplates, producing an even and soft illumination free from the variable lighting and blurring referred to above. Furthermore, a sign so constructed is distinctly visible in the daytime, because the white translucent plate lights up the inside of the sign sufficiently to give the letters a white appearance, so that they can be easily read. Ordinarily the letters of the sign-plates will be left clear glass; but, if desired, they may be ornamented with transparent varnish or with powdered glass sanded on or otherwise decorated as fancy may dictate without interfering with their transparent quality.

In the drawings the lights are located at the edge of the plate 10, in which position the rays from the lamps strike both sides and also the edge of the plate, illuminating the same completely; but the exact location of the lamps is immaterial, because, owing to the plate being translucent, both sides of the same are lighted by light shining on either side, having in this respect the manifest advantage over an opaque plate. The same advantage is more apparent with respect to daylight. Thus in a sign having two sides, as shown in the drawings, daylight entering through one side will illuminate the translucent plate, so as to show the sign at both sides, it being immaterial, so far as the extent of the illumination is concerned, which side the light comes through. Obviously an opaque plate painted white would show only on the side at which the light enters and the side of the sign in shadow wouldnot show. This advantage is particularly valuable for a sign hanging out of doors. Also in a plate other than translucent daylight coming in through one side would simply throw a shadow of the letters or the shapes thereof on such plate.

With a translucent plate this undesirable effect is not obtained, since the whole plate will light up evenly and with whatever light that comes in. Hence the invention herein described is particularly adapted for day and night lighting.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1'. In a sign, the combination with a transparent sign-plate, of a translucent plate behind the same, and means to illuminate the translucent plate. 2. In a sign, the combination with a transparent sign-plate, of a translucent plate behind the same, and lamps illuminating the translucent plate and obscured from the signplate.

3. In a sign, the combination with a casing having a transparent sign-plate in the side thereof, of a translucent plate within the casing, behind the sign-plate, and lamps within the casing, illuminating the translucent plate and obscured from the sign-plate.

4:. A sign comprising a casing having transparent sign-plates in opposite sides, a translucent plate in the middle, between said signplates, and lamps within the casing arranged to shine on the translucent plate.

5. In a sign, in combination, a casing, a sign-plate in the side thereof having opaque and transparent portions which outline characters, a translucent plate behind the signplate, and means to illuminate the translucent p ate. t

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DANIEL- s. LAMB.

Witnesses:

WM. J. ROBINSON, SIGNA FELTSKOG. 

